Morality In Huckleberry Finn

As a runaway slave accompanying a white boy, Jim cannot expect what Huck could do to him; Huck could turn him in or leave him by himself. Jim also had the opportunity to leave Huck, but having all his faith and trust in Huck, Jim decides to stay, hoping Huck was not lost in the fog. After Jim’s lecture, Huck starts to feel guilty, saying, “It made me feel so mean I could almost kissed his feet to get him to take it back”

Although Huck is a bit racist to Jim at the beginning of their journey, the negative attitude held by Huck begins to fizzle as their adventure continues on. The more Huck and Jim go through together, the closer the two become. Huck begins to see Jim as a friend and vice versa. By the end of their journey, Huck disagrees with society's idea that blacks are inferior. One example of this is evident when Huck doesn't tell anyone of Jim's whereabouts. Huck doesn't tell anyone because he knows that if he does, Jim will be forced to return to slavery. Instead, Huck chooses to "go to Hell" for his decision. He has shied away from society's acceptance of slavery.

Morality has always been defined as having either a good or evil conscious. There is always a choice that a character makes that defines their moral integrity in a literary work and distinguishes them as the hero. In Mark Twain’s story, “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”, not only does Huck encounters a number of moral circumstances where he or other characters displays situations in which moral ethics is called to questioned, but it proves that despite the religious influence and social expectation, it is through Huck that in order to do what is morally right, one must challenge the moral teaching of the world. Through observation of his world, Huck makes morally ambiguous choices that though may be against his moral teachings. Choice

Huck tries to paddle back to Jim and the raft, but the fog is too thick and the river to rough, forcing him to wait for things to clear up. After a lonely time adrift, Huck reunites with Jim, who is asleep on the raft. He wakes Jim up and proceeds to trick him into thinking that Jim dreamed up their separation, and he had been worried about Huck being dead for nothing. Jim is quick to realize he had been tricked, and gets mad at Huck for making him seem foolish after he had been so worried and scared for Huck’s safety. “It was fifteen minutes before I could work myself up to go and humble myself to a nigger,” (148) Huck says, showing moral courage in willing to apologize to Jim after realizing what he did was wrong, even though society would say

Although he predicts society will deem him to be "a low down Abolitionist and despise me for keeping mum," he prefers to be shunned and to risk punishment and shame for the sake of freeing Jim (Twain 43). Clearly, Huck's fondness for Jim is evident when Huck intends to send a letter to Miss Watson returning Jim but chooses to rip it to save him instead. Huck responds, "‘I'll right, then, I'll go to hell'- and he tore it up" (Twain 214). Huck accepts his rebellious nature and terrible fate to hell as he escapes from civilized society and into a place driven by his instincts. Jim's desire for freedom puts Huck in a moral dilemma because he must decide whether to follow his innate sense of morality or the restrictive guidelines of society.

They wants to jump in, but I says: 'Don't you do it. I don't hear the dogs and horses yet; you've got time to crowd through the brush and get up the crick a little ways; then you take to the water and wade down to me and get in-that 'll throw the dogs off the scent.'" (Twain 116) Huck acts like a Good Samaritan. Not only does Huck have pity upon these two men, he is also willing to take action and help them to safety. ""When I got down out of the tree I crept along down the river-bank a piece, and found the two bodies laying in the edge of the water, and tugged at them till I Got then ashore; then I covered up their faces, and got away as quick as I could. I cried a little when I was covering up Buck's face, for he was mighty good to me." (Twain 112) Huck has empathy for humankind; he treats others as he wants to be treated. Huck overlooked a person's social status, race or respectability when reacting to a situation. Another example of Huck's tenderness towards other humans is his experience with Jim on the river. At the beginning of the voyage Huck viewed Jim as a piece of property, a true reflection of Southern mores. "It was fifteen minutes before I would work myself to go and humble myself to a nigger; but I done it, and I warn't even sorry for it afterward, neither." (Twain 84) Going against social mores takes a great deal of looking inside one's self. Being raised in a time and place where blacks were looked down upon, Huck found that going against what

Because blacks are uneducated, he sees them as stupid and stubborn. He frequently tells stories to Jim, mainly about foreign kings and history. When Jim disagrees with Huck, Jim becomes very stubborn and refuses to listen to explanations. Huck eventually concludes, "You can't learn a nigger to argue". Jim also seems to accept that whites are naturally superior to blacks. He knows that Huck is far smarter than he is. When Tom Sawyer and Huck are planning an elaborate breakout for Jim, he allows their outrageous plan to continue because they "was white folks and knowed better than him". This mutual acceptance of whites as superior to blacks shows how deeply rooted slavery was in Southern culture. This made it very difficult for Huck to help Jim. When Tom Sawyer says he will help free Jim, Huck is very disappointed. He had never thought that Tom Sawyer, of all people, would be a "nigger stealer". Huck had always considered Tom respectable and educated, and yet Tom was prepared to condemn himself to damnation by freeing a runaway slave. This confuses Huck greatly, who no longer knows what to think about his situation with Jim. When Huck is forced to make a decision regarding slavery, he invariably sides with his emotions. Huck does not turn Jim in, despite having several chances. His best chance to do what he believes is right comes as they are rafting towards Cairo, Illinois. Huck finally

     On Huck and Jim’s journey to Cairo, Jim begins to speak about when he is free he will go and find his children and take them from the slave owner. This rubbed Huck the wrong way; his standards of Jim had been lowered because, from Huck’s point of view, why would Jim steal his children away from a man who has done nothing to him? Huck’s conscience began to come into play and he had made up his mind: He was going to turn Jim in when they reach shore. He was sure of it until Jim began to sweet talk Huck, telling him that Huck was the only white man that had ever kept a promise to him. This comment went directly to Huck’s heart; he could not possibly

American author Mark Twain was one of the most influential people of his time. Twain is perhaps best known for his traditional classic, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, a novel about an adventurous boy named Huck Finn as he traverses about on the Mississippi. Under first impressions, Huckleberry Finn would be considered nothing but a children’s tale at heart written by the highly creative Mark Twain. However one interprets it, one can undoubtedly presume that Twain included personal accounts within its pages, humorous and solemn opinions on the aspects of the diverse societies around him during his life. Throughout the entire story, Huck Finn would often come into conflict between choosing what was consciously right and what was morally

Huck knows in his heart that Jim is a moral being, yet he fights his urge to help Jim through channeling the influence of society upon him, this influence stating that a nigger is property and should not be considered a human being. Growing up in the Antebellum South region of America, Huck is exposed to a racism not found in the Northern region. To Southern society, these niggers are nothing but property whom should bend over head and heel to serve their white masters. Huck is the only person whom readers encounter, that is able to recognize the humanity in slaves. But even when Huck notices this humanity, he immediately remembers that society believes niggers are property and not humans, which stresses his moral status. An example of when Huck fights his urge to help a “nigger” with the norms of society occurs when Huck and Jim travel to Cairo. Huck, who pledged his allegiance to stand by and help the runaway slave Jim in his quest for freedom, is nearly at the point where Jim meets his freedom. After all of his work and his conscious decision to help Jim, Huck begins to regret it. Huck felt “so mean and so miserable” that he “wished [he] was dead”, all because he believes he betrayed the society that he

Close relationships can affect many individuals, allowing them to see different perspectives on society. Morality plays a significant role in how people act, and also provides reason behind how they treat others as well. In addition, individuals can find freedom through forgiveness and honesty. People who face harsh circumstances may suffer, but end up taking a high moral ground even after these hardships. Hence, the people with hardships often have superior principles to those without several problems in life. A person’s position in society does not determine his or her moral or ethical status. In Mark Twain’s historical novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Jim plays a significant role by representing a moral figure while he also

Often times Huck found himself in a moral dilemma on whether to do what society instilled in him or to do what he thinks should be done. Huck betrayed those feelings of “what society would want” him to do in order to be a good friend to Jim, putting his own self up at risk again for Jim. Jim was being held captive by Huck’s current host and Huck, abandoning his duties of his superior race and being a good Christian, as the Widow called it Huck suddenly has an epiphany “All right then, I'll go to hell!” as he goes to “steal Jim out of slavery” (212). Seeing the situation through Huck’s perspective it gives the reader every little detail that goes into his thought process in his decision making. These types of actions were considered wrong by society at that time and place but Huck sets that all aside and does what he feels is the right thing. Most of the time Huck has to think on his feet making the decision making process even more difficult, like the time when Huck was going to give Jim up as a runaway slave. “Then I thought a minute, and says to myself, hold on, s’pose you’d ‘a’ done right and give Jim up, would you feel better than what you do now? No, says I, I’d feel bad---I’d feel just the same way I do now” (91). Even through Huck’s dialect you can see him argue with himself on what the right thing to is, but he throws out what society would do and does what his heart tells him. Through Huck arguing

Likewise, society believes slaves are inferior to whites; however, Huck befriends a slave named Jim. Huck helps Jim find his family and their friendship grows stronger because of it. Additionally, society wants Huck to uphold a “perfect image,” but Huck doesn’t care about what others think of him. The widow tries to teach Huck religion and how to be “sivilized” (Twain 37), but Huck prefers living in an uncivilized manner because that’s what he’s used to. Furthermore, Huck follows his conscience instead of following what society believes is right. “All right, then, I'll go to hell”—and tore it up… And for a starter I would go to work and steal Jim out of slavery again; and if I could think up anything worse, I would do that, too; because as long as I was in, and in for good, I might as well go the whole hog” (Twain 535-536). Huck decides to tear up the note he wrote to Miss. Watson because his conscience tells him that helping Jim is indeed the right decision. Huck chooses to follow his principles, even if it means ending up in hell. His whole life, society told him that helping slaves was wrong and you will go to hell for it. Huck does not care about the consequences, just about helping Jim. As a result, Huck decides to follow his morals, even though society does not comply with his

In Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Twain presents the problem of slavery in America in the 19th Century. Twain poses this problem in the form of a character named Huckleberry Finn, a white boy raised in the antebellum South. Huck starts to question his view regarding slavery when he acquaints himself more intimately with a runaway slave while he himself tries to run away. Huck’s development as a character is affected by society’s influence on his experiences while growing up in the South, running away with Jim, and trying to save Jim. Although Huck decides to free Jim, Huck’s deformed conscience convinces him that he is doing the wrong thing.

As many critics say, Huckleberry Finn is one of the most influential pieces of all time, Twain proves this to be true through his profound understanding of human standards. Huck exemplifies his stance on human dignity when he conveys, "Old Jim was gone. Then I sat down and cried; I couldn 't help it" (Twain; 246). Considering the time frame this story took place, the common view on African Amerians is that they are not human and are just slaves or property. However, Twain illustrates Huck as seeing Jim as much more than just a slave; he is Huck’s best friend, and Huck sees right through Jim’s skin color to reveal what is on the inside. Besides, Huck grows to deeply care for Jim, and sees the goodness in him and knows that freedom is what Jim deserves. Twain demonstrates a point of view on human dignity that is